Heating and ventilating unit



Jan. 13, 1931.

M. J. CALLAHAN HEATING AND VENTILAI'ING UNIT Fii ed July 26. 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan; 13, 1931. M. J. QALLAHAN 1,788,823

Jan. 13, 1931. M. .1. CALLAHAN HEATING AND VENTILATING UNIT 1926 3 sheets-sheet 3 Filed July 2 INVENTOR 3 I ilii! iiiuniilil 1:51; IIILMK Eilaa gg .lllllllll I I I I I a:

llvl llll Arrb/m r Patented Jan. 13,1931

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HEATING AND VENTILATING UNIT Application filed July 26,

This invention relates to heating and ventilating apparatus, and particularly has reference to apparatus of the unit type specially adapted for heating and ventilating G lofts, rooms, buildings, schools, school-rooms and other similar structures wherein it is desired to ventilate and heat units of space by localized units of automatic operation and susceptible to the surrounding temper- It frequently happens that heating and ventilating units are damaged and, temporarily put out of commission by reason of some part of the radiator freezing and bursting. Radiators now used in heating and ventilating units consist of cast iron sections, or, tubes with or without radial fins, and the effort is to so arrange and construct them as to give a maximum amount of radiating surface for minimum bulk. As now constructed and arranged, the radiator sections will secrete or hold moisture of condensation, and such moisture will be trapped somewherejn the coils or tubes'and will freeze upon sufficient lowering of temperature in the coils, or the blasting of cold air againstthe radiator sectionsas in the unit system. The result is that the radiator sections will rack or split, entailing great loss and inconvenience and temporarily putting the unit out of use.

According to my invention, provision has been made for complete drainage of the radiatorsand the rapid shifting of any moisture of condensation within the tubes so that operation, and capable of performing predetermined functions of control and recirculation with certainty and facility.

Among the objects of my invention may be noted the following: to provide a heating and ventilating unit with' temperature controlling and by-pass dampers, in combination with a vertically arranged radiator; to pro- 1926. Serial No. 124,885.

vide a heating and ventilatingunitso constructed that it will house a vertically disposed radiator without interfering with the predetermined functional modes of operation necessary to control temperature and bring about recirculation in the unit; to pro- 7 vide means in :a unit of the typeindicated whereby inlet dampers may be controlled by.- the movement of a recirculating closure; to.

provide mechanism in a heatingand vent-ilating unit for controlling the direction. of movement of fresh air through the radiator and the mixing of hot and cold air before delivery thereof to the room of installation of the unit; to'provide simplified, effective and economical means for carrying out the ob- ,jects noted in the foregoing and for performing various functions in the apparatus. according to redetermination.

With the a ove objects in view and others 7 which will be detailed during the course of; thls description, my invention consists in the parts, features, elements, mechanisms, andcombinations thereof hereinafter described and claimed. 1 In order that my invention may be clearly understood, I have provided drawings wherein:

Flgure 1 is a view in sectional elevation of a heating and ventilating unit embodying 90 the various features of my invention;

Figure 2 isa view showing in enlarged detail the interior front portion of the unit. with my Improved mechanism for simultaneously manipulating the by-pass and mixing dampers; and v Figure 3 is a view similar to, Figure 1 show-' mg another form of my invention in the matter of the mixing damper.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates the casing generally of my heating and ventilating unit. 2 is the top closure thereof having an opening, protected by a grille 3, through which the air is discharged in a vertical jet into the room of installation of the unit. The front wall 40f the casing may be removably applied in any suitable manner, or any part t ereof maybe made f movable or rigid as may be desired. The lower part of the casing is provided with an and one of the fans 11 is shown merely in circular outline. The motor axis is at 12 and said motor and thetwo fans, together with their casings, are underhung from the supporting member .13 which extends throughout the width of the casing and has openings therein at the line 14 through which the air is driven into the upper part of the casing by the fans.

Above'the motor and blower chamber 9 the interior of the casing is divided into a heating chamber 15, located at the back of the casing, a mechanism chamber 16, located at .the front of the casing, a cold air chamber 17 located between the front wall of the casing and the heating chamber, just above the passage 14 from the motor and blower chamber 9, and the mixing chamber 18 at the top of the casin and between the front wallthereof and t 1e heating chamber. The heating chamber and mechanism chamber are defined by the angular partition 19, the central portion of which is bridged by the bracket 20 which extends toward the front of the casing and into the mechanism chamber, and is adapted to support a gear box 21 rigidly fixed by its base thereto and, provided with two tubular members 22, 23, in which slide vertically two'rack-bars 24, 25, which are actuated in opposite directions by a pinion 26 capable of being rotated by the application of a key to the squared end of its-axle 27, which projects into the aperture in the front wall 4 of the casing, said aperture being lined by an escutcheon or shield 28, see Figure 1. The rack-bars are held within their tubular guiding members by face-plates 29. The partition-19, in the form shown, is especially adapted to cause the air which is driven by the fans to be shunted or deflected into and through the radiator 30, and also to deflect the air, thus driven upwardly, through the discharge opening in the top of the casing. The form of the partition 19 may changed according to predetermination, and I desire it understood that the form shown is not to be taken as a limitation either upon the size of the heating chamber, or'the mechanism chamber, or the functional mode of. operation 'of the partition as just described. While I have designated the chamber 16 as a mechanism chamber, it-is also a b -pass chamber for cold fresh air, and at its ttom merges with the cold air chamber 17, in which the by-pass damper 31 operates.

17, define the latter, and be limited in its forward movement by contact with the bar 32, which also has the function of reinforcing or stiffening the front plate 4, and acting as a stop and support for a facing of felt or soft rubber 33 applied for the purpose of deadening the sound of contact therewith of the damper. At its rearward extreme, the damper 31 engages the stop-plate 34 which may also be faced with sound deadening material the same as the'bar 32. Intermediate its top and bottom edges, the damper 31 is provided with a bracket 35 having an upturned extension 36 to which is pivoted the lower ends of a pair of links 37, the upper ends of which are pivoted to the lower end of the rack-bar 24. Thus by shiftin the rackbar 24, the by-pass damper 31 maybe shifted from one extreme to the other or to any position intermediate said extremes. At its upper edge, the partition 19 has hinged thereto a mixing damper 38, The end Walls 39 of the casing are provided with stops 40 and 41 adapted to limit the shifting movement of the mixing damper 38, which is controlled in its action by means of the rack-bar 25 having pivoted atits upper end the'bottom ends of a pair of links 42, the upper ends of which are pivoted to extension 43 of the bracket 44 secured to the mixing damper 38. Thus, when the pinion 26 is rotated, the rack-bars 24, 25 will be simultaneously shifted, and in turn will shift the by-pass and mixing dampers proportionally in predetermined directions.

It is to benoted particularly that the radiator isarranged in the heating chamber 15 with its tubes or coils vertically disposed at the back of the casing. This is an important feature of my invention and upon it I lay stress, although not herein claiming the form of the radiator, this being made the subject of another application filed of even date herewith. By disposing the radiator with its coils vertically arranged and parallel with the 1 length of the unit, all possibility of the moisture of condensation freezing within the tubes or coils is entirely overcome. since any moisture which accumulates in the top header 45 will completely drain into the tubes, and from the latter into the bottom header 46. from which it will drain into the return members of the drainage system. It is also to be noted that the heating chamber and mechanism chamber are extended in parallelism vertically lengthwise of the casing and that the by-pass chamber is at the bottom of the heating chamber, while the mixing chamber is at the top thereof.

The recirculating closure and the inlet .at opposite ends of the casing. The upper end of one of. the levers 47 has pivotally connected'thereto at 50the inner end of a link 51,the outer end of which is pivotedat 52 to a bracket 53 secured to the upper inlet damper 54, hinged at its inner edge 55 to the top 56 of the inlet duct 57. The lower'inlet damper 58 is hinged at its inner edge 59 to the bottom 60 of the inlet duct, and said damper has secured to it the angular bracket 61, to which is pivoted the .lower end of a link 62 which at its upper end is pivoted to the bracket 53 secured to the upper damper 54. Thus, when the closure 6 is shifted inwardly around its journal 48, the link 51 will be moved longitu'dinally causing the damper 54 to swing on I its hinge, which movement, through the link 62, will be imparted to the damper 58 which will be caused to swing around its hinge 59,

' at a slightly greater speed than the speed of the damper 54. This difierential movement of the two dampers enables the one to close over the other, as shown in Figure 3, the two dampers being inwardly bent along thelr outer edges, as indicated at '63, for-the purpose of overlapping and makin a complete closure at the inner endof t e inlet duct 57.

The downward and inward movement of the closure 6 will be limited by the'contact of the two inlet dampers,-as shown in Figure 3; but,

if desired, the flanged top edge 64 of the inturned flange 65 "of the'bottom member 8, which also acts as a stop and limit for the .movement of the closure upwardly into the position shown in Figure l-by contact of its flanged lower edge 66 with said flange 65, the flange 64 of the closure, in this positlonpf the latter, assuming intimate relation with the molding 67 surrounding the grilled open ing in the bottom of the. casing. J

1 The levers 47 and closure 6 are turned upon their axis by a crank-arm 68 fixed upon the journal rod 48 outside the casing at one end thereof, said-crank-arm 68 carrying a winged nut 69, which turns upon a headed screw the shank of which operates in the slot 70 of a segmental p1ate 71 secured to the outside of the casing. Thus, the closure 6 can be shifted to and fixed in anyv position between and at extremes so as to control the position of the inlet dampers, according to the predetermined function or effect which may be required from .time to time, such as partial or complete recirculation of the air in the "room of installation of the unit.

. From the foregoing it will be seen, referring particularly toFigure 1, that an imporcasing is divided into a lower motor and blower chamber 9, into which enters on one side an inlet duct or chamber through which fresh air can be drawn andinto which, on

the by-pass or mechanism chamber at the front ofthe casing and the heating chamber at the back of the casing, in which latter is located the vertically arranged heating element. The heating chamber and the mechanism chamber communicate with a mixing chamber 18 in which operates a mixing damper 38. In this form of my invention the mixingdamper38 is considerably shorter than the by-pass damper 31: but, the movements of the two dampers coordinate and are brought about simultaneously by the mechanism shown in details in Figure 2. When the by,- pass and mixing dampers are in the full line position of Figure 1, the fresh air driven by the blowers is divided in volume and sent partly through the heating chamber and the mechanism chamber, and, after passing through. said two chambers, is combined and mixed in the mixing chamber 18 before being discharged through the grille 3. Thus in this form of my invention the air is mixed within the casing. When the by-pass and mixing dampers are in the position shown by dotted lines at the front of the casing, all the fresh air driven by the blowers passes into the heating chamber, being shunted into the latter by the damper 31 and the inclined wall of the partition 19. This operation is aided by the oblique top of the lower header 46. Thus all the air is driven directly into contact with the radiator, from whence it is driven through the discharge opening at the grille 3, being shunted directly therethrough by the lower oblique face of the header 45, the top part of the partition 19,

and the mixing damper 38. All the air thus discharged by. the unit will be hot. When the by-pass and mixing dampers are in the the discharge opening, the inclination of the by-pass and mixing dampers being such as to facilitate such discharge. The oblique member 72 at the top of the casing adjacent the mixing damper will aid in the proper.

discharge of the cold air, preventing any regurgitation by contact with'the top of the unit. It will be understood that the partition 19 can be positioned more to either the right or the left, so as to enlarge or contract the heating chamber. .The size of the mech anism chamber is of no great importance, since the simple mechanism located therein does not require a great deal of room for operation.

For the purpose of recirculating the air in the room of installation of the unit, the by-pass and mixing dampers will be shifted to the extreme right at the front of the unit and theclosure damper 6 will be shifted into the position of Figure 3, which operation will simultaneously close the inlet dampers. This arrangement for recirculation of the air in the room of installation of the unit is shown in Figure 3.

The recirculating mechanism shown in Figure 3 is the same as that of Figure 1; but, the mixing damper is made of approximately the width of the by-pa-ss damper. In the structure of Figure 3 the member 72 at the top of the casing is utilized as a stop for the mixing damper 7 3, which is sufficiently wide to just clear the grille 3 when shifted from one extreme to the other. By making the mixing damper 7 3 extensive as shown in Figure 3, the hot and cold' air passing through the heating and mechanism chambers will not be mixed within the unit; but, will be mixed just beyond the top of the unit. Otherwise, the structure of Figure 3 operates both for temperature control and recirculation, the same as the structure of Figure 1.

One of the peculiarities and important features of my invention is that, by disposing the motor and blowers at the bottom of the casing and locating the vertically disposed radiator at the back of the casing and upper part of the latter, I am able to utilize a single support such as 13 for all said mechanisms;

that is to say, the radiator is mounted on the top of the support 13 and the motor and fans are supported on the bottom of said support and underslung therefrom. This disposition of the mechanism also enables me to locate the support 13 at the rear of the casing, thereby avoiding interference with inspection, repairs and removal of the various mechanisms when desired. These are important features from both the mechanical and functional standpoints.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent '1. A heating and ventilating unit having its casing divided into a motor and blower damper mounted to control the passage of air into the two chambers; a damper mounted to control the passage of air from the two chambers; operating means connecting the two dampers and arranged so as to cause the two dampers to simultaneously move to any degree desired in the same general direction.

3. A heating and ventilating unit having a heating chamber and a by-pass chamber; a damper mounted to control the passage of air into the two chambers; a damper mounted to control the passage of air from the two chambers; operating means connecting the two dampers, including a pair of rack-bars actuated by a single pinion.

4. A heating and ventilating unit having a heating chamber and a by-pass chamber in parallelism within the casing; a mixing chamber at the top of the casing communicating with both the aforesaid chambers; a damper controlling the admission to the heating andby-pass chambers; a damper operating in the mixing chamber, and controlling the exit of the heating and by-pass chambers; and common means for controlling the action of the two dampers.

' 5. A heating and ventilating unit comprising an enclosing casing divided into a motor and blower chamber in its bottom, a fresh air inlet to said chamber, another inlet opposite the fresh air inlet having a grille covering the same, pivotally mounted dampers within the casing for sealing the two inlets, couplings between the several dampers, and means by which one of the dampers may be directly and positively operated thus actuating the couplings whereby to simultaneously operate all the dampers so that, when the fresh air inlet dampers are closed, the other damper will be open.

MICHAEL J. CALLAHAN.

chamber, a heating chamber, a combined bypass and mechanism chamber, and a mixing chamber; the motor and blower chamber being located at the bottom of the caslng and the other chambers being located in the upper part of the casing; a damper mounted to operate at the entrance to the by-pass and heating chambers; a damper mounted to operate at the exit of the by-pass and heating chambers; and means in the by-pass chamber for controlling the operation of the two dampers.

2. A heating and ventilating unit having a heating chamber and a by-pass chamber; a 

